It is common, if not universal, for people to hold certain “truths” without questioning their logic. Over the years of life, however, there can be some erosions of these positions, which we will examine.
First, is the thought that age will determine at what point in our lifetimes we are most likely to leave this earth for the unknown “afterlife.” As we actually age, however, many of us learn that age is not the leading determinant of time of death; instead, we learn that how we have taken care of our bodies, intentionally or otherwise, is most likely to dictate when our time has expired. That includes accidents, sickness, disease of the heart, cancer, etc. The impact of those events will lead us to expire at a particular time much more so than our age alone.
When we are young, no matter our attitudes, character, profession, looks or job position, we develop friendships, some real and some necessary for stability in our lives. As we grow older, those friendships often fade into the background because of how we lead our changing lives, where our positions have taken us, the composition of our families, surgeries, whether or not we have moved, new technologies such as iphones that have largely replaced physical contacts with people, etc. The result is that we enjoy less involvement with “friends” the older we get. One of the few remaining interests that draws people together is the concept of “dining out.” Whether we are close to certain people or not, it remains enjoyable to dine in the company of other couples or people and exchange thoughts and stories which is not as easily accomplished over the telephone or by emails. Whatever the case, we realize that our need for friends is greater than it was many years ago.
When we are young, we tend to make decisions based on our ability to read some document, listen to a verbal statement, watch the action of some person, or be able to gauge something in a way we can measure. Ageing, however, appears to grow the talent of being able to evaluate some person or thing using the powers of our mind or heart alone to make a decision without requiring the existence of something we can hear, see, touch or, in one word, measure. The powers of our mind and heart replace that need.
Well, that gives us a few things to think about.
